Transcript African American Faith Based Bereavement Initiative

African American Faith
Based Bereavement
Initiative
Module 2
Why do we care?
The Pain Can Last a Lifetime—What the
research tells us.
Job 16:6 NIV
Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved; and if I refrain, it does not go away.
Psalm 38:17
For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me.
A Loss Like No Other
Module 2
• The loss of a child or a pregnancy has an
impact on parents beyond the initial days and
weeks following the loss. Although all losses
are painful, the unexpected nature of losing a
child and all that is tied up in a family’s hopes
and dreams for that child intensify the impact.
AAFBBI Curriculum ©2011 NCCC
Research Findings
Module 2
• Women who experience miscarriage:
– 40% report symptoms of grief in weeks following
a miscarriage
– Up to 50% have elevated levels of anxiety and
depression in the weeks and month after the loss
– Symptoms can continue for 6 months to a year
AAFBBI Curriculum ©2011 NCCC
Module 2
Research Findings
• Families who experience stillbirth, death of a
newborn or an infant
– Mothers had significantly more symptoms of anxiety
and depression at 2 and 8 months after the loss; fathers
had elevated symptoms at 2 months—compared with
parents who had not experienced a loss
– Bereaved mothers had higher rates of psychological
distress than mother who had not experienced a loss
for at least 30 months
– Women who had a fetal or infant loss had a threefold
increase risk for suicide attempts
AAFBBI Curriculum ©2011 NCCC
Research Findings
Module 2
• Fathers have different reactions
– Fathers may develop post traumatic stress disorder
after a stillbirth
– Over a 30 month period after the loss of an infant,
bereaved fathers showed significantly more
alcohol use than fathers who had not experienced a
loss
Badenhorst, Hughes and Wing, 2007; Badenhorst, et al, 2006; Schiff and Grossman, 2006;Boyle, et
al, 1996; Lok and Neugebauer, 2007; Vance, et al, 1995
AAFBBI Curriculum ©2011 NCCC
Research Findings
Module 2
• In one study, bereaved mothers who were
distressed at 2 months after the loss reported
lower marital satisfaction at 30 months after
the loss.
Vance, et al 2002
AAFBBI Curriculum ©2011 NCCC
Module 2
Research Findings
• After the birth of a healthy baby to parents
who have had a prior perinatal loss
– Fathers reported a decrease in depressive
symptoms
– Approximately 1/3 of mothers continued to be at
high risk for depression
Armstrong, et al, 2007
AAFBBI Curriculum ©2011 NCCC
Research Findings
Module 2
• One study, that followed families over many
years, found that even 18 years after the death
of a child, (parents were 53 years old at that
time), bereaved parents reported more
depressive symptoms, poorer well-being, more
health problems and more marital disruption
than parents who had not experienced a loss.
Rogers, et al, 2008
AAFBBI Curriculum ©2011 NCCC
A Family Voice
Module 2
• Let’s hear from Nicole Alston, Founder &
Executive Director,The Skye Foundation, Inc.
AAFBBI Curriculum ©2011 NCCC
Research Findings
Module 2
• One study found that parents whose religious
beliefs reflect a struggle with faith (anger at
God, etc.) or who see their loss as a
punishment reported more grief even 1 year
after the loss than those who had a positive
view of God and faith.
Cowchock, et al, 2009
AAFBBI Curriculum ©2011 NCCC
Research Findings
Module 2
• Three-fourths of siblings show immediate
emotional effects with half still exhibiting
problems almost three years later
• They must deal not only with the trauma of the
death, but with their parents’ grief and its
impact on parenting and family functioning
Powell,1991; Shapiro, 1994
AAFBBI Curriculum ©2011 NCCC
What Does this Mean?
Module 2
• Don’t expect families to “get on with it”
quickly
• Understand that even as time goes on, the
pain may continue
• Develop approaches to support families
beyond the immediate crisis
AAFBBI Curriculum ©2011 NCCC